The Story I Wrote to Procrastinate
by Loki Kix
Summary: Rachel's recklessness almost got Tobias killed in book number 27. What will it take for her to realize the consequences of her actions? The Mistake renamed.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: **I wrote this instead of finishing my homework today. Hopefully it's better than my last one. It's supposed to take place sometime after book #27. I don't own Animorphs blah blah disclaimer. Let me know what you think if you feel like it. Parentheses equal thought-speak.

**Rachel**

We were falling. Me and Tobias plunging like rocks toward the ocean a half-mile below us. The other BugFighter exploded in a fireball as it crashed on the distant horizon. Tobias must have hit it after all. I remember feeling vaguely triumphant even as I tried desperately to morph to eagle before I smashed into the waves. The surface tension of the sea below me would feel as hard as concrete if I hit as a human, splitting me open like a gutted fish. I couldn't see Tobias anywhere. Didn't know if he was even alive, let alone conscious and flying.

The plan…no. Calling what we did a "plan" would be lying. It was a stupid spur-of-the-moment decision. Tobias had been skeptical; I'd heard it in his thought-speak while we were out flying over the cliffs. But I had a reputation to live up to—bold and reckless Rachel, so I talked him into it. It hadn't taken much. He would follow me anywhere.

Maybe I took advantage of that sometimes.

After I'd almost gotten us both killed as sperm whales when we were trying to find the Pemalite ship, I thought I'd learned my lesson. But no. My addled brain flashed back to earlier that morning as I fell.

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(Hi Rachel) he called to me.

(Hey you) I puffed, flapping hard in the early morning chill.

(Head north a little. There's a nice updraft off the cliffs.) It was our new Saturday morning thing: flying over the beach before it got crowded with people. People who might notice a red-tailed hawk and a bald eagle flying together. 6am on a Saturday? Ouch. But it was practically the only time we could be alone together lately. There weren't any thermals so early, so it was tough work getting altitude. Luckily Tobias knew all the little tricks, how to get the most out of the salt breezes and early light. Usually we just flew and talked for awhile. Sometimes we'd land in an isolated grotto and…stop talking, but today I happened to know Jake, Cassie, Ax, and Marco would be down at the beach later so time was limited.

(Gah, finally!) I said as I breasted the cliffs and caught a ride upward on a passing gust. The rising sun behind me cast a golden light over the waves in front of me. (Gorgeous,) I breathed.

(Yeah, this is worth the early wake-up call) Tobias said circling above me.

(How are you?) I asked.

(Same as ever.)

I sighed inwardly. This question always got the same ambiguous answer from him lately. I never knew if we'd end up fighting or teasing each other or talking seriously these days. Tobias had been through a lot lately. Plus his usual issues with his screwed-up life made him moody and unpredictable. Usually I didn't mind, but I was in the mood for fun today.

(Better now that you're here) he added with a playful hint in his "voice."

That was more like it.

(You know you can't resist my wonderful self. My manicured talons, my awesome flying skills...) I kidded him.

(Oh totally,) he said laughing as he shot under me and spun around in mid-air before soaring straight up. (Maybe you can give me some pointers later.)

I laughed and tried ineffectually to copy him. (Race you down the beach!) I called up to him.

(You're on! Last one to the surf rental shack is an airborne chicken!) as he took off.

NO ONE calls me a chicken. I hauled feathers down the coast, pushing my shoulders until they burned. It was the first time in a long time I'd gone that fast without trying to escape from some horrible enemy chasing me. My huge wingspan gave me an advantage, but like I said, Tobias knows all the tricks. We were dead even at one hundred yards away when I saw it. A shimmer in the dawn sky. I stopped suddenly, ignoring Tobias' taunts as he reached the finish line. I knew what that shimmer meant. We all did. Cloaked ship!

(Tobias!) I yelled, interrupting his victory cheers, (Come look at this!)

He circled around and flapped back to me, but I was already heading out over the water.

(What's—oooh.) he said, following my line of sight, (What do you think it is? BugFighter?)

(Either that or Ax's Radioshack projects are really progressing.)

The air ripple that signified the little ship sank down close to the surface of the water. A semi-circle opened up in what seemed like the thin air, and a Hork-Bajir in a weird diving suit splashed down.

(What are they doing? It's almost broad daylight,) Tobias wondered.

(They must be desperate or something. They're not even that far from land.)

(Pemalite ship again?)

(No way, they have to realize we moved it way deeper than that) I responded.

The Hork-Bajir kicked down below the surface, but my eagle eyes were designed to see through water. I watched him dive deeper and deeper. Tobias was saying something about getting Jake, but I wasn't listening. I had an idea.

(Let's steal it!) I blurted. I could feel the familiar rush of adrenaline kicking in. I beat my wings out to sea.

(Steal what?) Tobias called, following me. (We don't even know what he's looking for down there.) He sounded apprehensive, thinking I was calling for an underwater mission. Tobias hates water. I don't think he can even swim when he's human.

(No,) I cried giddily, (the ship! Let's take his BugFighter while he's down there!)

(Rachel…) Tobias started to admonish me, but it was too late. I'd already landed on the cloaked BugFighter. He sighed and alighted next to me. (You know this is probably insane, right? You don't think we should just tell Jake?)

(The Hork-Bajir might be gone by then! Besides, it's just the one of him. We can take him! And how awesome would it be to steal a Yeerk ship?) I chattered as I demorphed.

(Then lead on, Xena!)

Fully human and freezing in my gymnastics leotard, I climbed down the invisible BugFighter toward the door. Tobias just swooped right through. I would have shorn off my wingtips if I'd tried it as an eagle. I dangled from a handhold above the door frame and swung inside. My bare feet touched down on the black marble-like floor.

"The floors in these spaceships are always so shiny," I observed.

(Yeah, the Yeerks and Andalites probably have stock in Mop 'n' Glo) Tobias cracked.

"Demorph to human so we can fly this thing," I told him.

(I have to _morph _to become human) he mumbled.

I pretended not to hear him. That was not a fight I was interested in having again.

"I remember Ax doing something with this panel last time we…Ha! Got it!" The ship hummed to life. Tobias slid into the giant weapons chair. "Let's go land this on Jake's front yard!"

"Forget that, let's joyride to the moon and back!" Tobias said, getting into my excited spirit. It was the happiest I'd seen him in days. Maybe months. I grinned and leaned over to kiss him. But before I could get close, a shadow fell across us. Tobias pulled away, his eyes wide at whatever was over my shoulder. "Oh shiii…" he started to say. I whipped my head around.

A bewildered Hork-Bajir stood in the doorway holding some electronic thing in one hand and a very heavy-duty looking snorkel thing in the other. For a split second the three of us just stared at each other.

"Human folk?" he said baffled. That broke the ice. I slammed my hand down on the panel and the BugFighter shot up through the atmosphere. The suction of our rapid takeoff knocked the Hork-Bajir out into the blue. "This is bad," I muttered.

"It's worse than you think," Tobias said, staring at the weapons display, "we've got company. Another BugFighter on our tail!"

(BugFighter 322, acknowledge) a mechanized voice demanded.

"Um, no," I said, frantically searching for a way to make us go faster.

(BugFighter 322, failure to acknowledge. Mandatory termination procedure initiated.)

"Now what do you think that means?" Tobias wondered. A red laser stripe singed our flank as his response. "Oh."

I struggled with the controls, pushing every panel, hitting the few buttons. Tobias fired the Dracon beams again and again, but our pursuer was cloaked just like we were.

"Rachel, fly straight up! We're gonna have to bail!"

BAM! A direct hit rocked our ship. Sparks flew out of the panel in front of me.

"I'm trying!" I yelled as a small explosion melted the monitors. An automated voice said something urgently in an alien language.

"No time! Gotta bail NOW!" Tobias shouted. He staggered toward the door as the injured BugFighter bucked through the sky. I turned away from the controls and for the first time noticed most of the bulkhead was on fire. Black smoke poured out of the ship's stubby wings. Tobias was mostly demorphed already; he'd be able to fly safely away. But he was waiting. Making sure I jumped clear before he went. I looked down at the ocean below us. Way too close. Not enough time to morph now. I hadn't even finished the thought when the whole sky seemed to explode.

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All of that flashed through my head in a split second coupled with intense fear for Tobias. Could a bird survive that? Had he gotten clear before the ship blew up? But the sight of the white-capped waves rushing up at me shook me out of my stunned reverie. Not enough time to morph, but had to try. I was no use to Tobias or anyone dead. (Wings, wings, wiiiiiiings!) I thought fervently.

I felt myself fall slightly slower as my bones turned hollow. (No! Not bird bones, WINGS!) Suddenly my shoulder blades erupted into huge, larger than life gold and white feathery wings, but I was still mostly human. Arms, legs, torso, head. Too human. I hit the water. Like a ton of bricks. My vision fractured in a bright blue starburst of the sky meeting the ocean before everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Tobias**

Somehow I managed to finish demorphing seconds before I would've hit the water.

(YAAAHHHH!) I yelled in a huge adrenaline rush as I skimmed over the waves. But there was no time to celebrate my surviving yet another abortive mission. I had to find Rachel. She hadn't started to morph before the BugFighter blew. There was no way she'd be able to go completely eagle in time, but…I had to hope. Couldn't even let the idea she hadn't made it enter my consciousness. I worked for every inch of altitude and circled back, looking for signs of life.

Our now uncloaked BugFighter had fallen in pieces in a wide radius. I thought I'd hit our pursuer before we'd had to bail, and a plume of smoke on the horizon confirmed it. I spotted the diver Hork-Bajir floating face-down, unconscious near some pieces of wreckage. The tide must have carried him further out to sea while we were on our brief joyride. His Yeerk had probably abandoned ship. Better for the Animorphs if it had. It would probably get eaten by some seagull or fish before it even got close to shore. Where was Rachel?

Just as my panic threatened to take over all rational thought, I spotted her. Or at least, some form of her.

Giant raptor wings lay, for want of a better phrase, spread-eagle in the choppy waves. I couldn't see any more of Rachel, but that had to be her. It must have been all she'd been able to morph before she hit. (Rachel!) I called. No answer. I rocketed down into the surf, making sure to note the direction of land before I splashed down. The almost invisible thin strip of tan in the far distance meant I'd have a long, long swim ahead of me. Ignoring my increasing fatigue, I morphed to dolphin as fast as I could.

(Rachel! Rachel, wake up. You're OK. I'm here. I'm morphing dolphin. We're going to swim back to land,) I babbled incoherently. I knew she probably couldn't hear me. It was more for my benefit. Anything to distract me from the blue abyss surrounding me and the unshakable fear that she might never wake up.

But as the dolphin replaced the hawk, my water phobia receded. When I actually shut up and concentrated, I realized I could hear her heart beating. Still alive. I nosed her to flip her over. She coughed a little as her mouth broke the surface. Still breathing too. But for how long? Had to get her back to the beach. The huge wings were coated in waterproof oil, just like eagle feathers, so she was actually kind of hydrodynamic. Still, it would take at least an hour to push her back to land. And every second counted.

The sky had clouded over as the morning wore on, so there weren't too many people at the beach yet. Still, I didn't need anyone seeing a half-morphed girl, so I swam her to an isolated cove we knew about. As soon as the water grew too shallow for the dolphin, I demorphed and remorphed to human.

I stood up in the breakers and hooked my arms under Rachel's. I scooped her up, being careful to fold her giant wings against her back. She was shockingly light. I lay her down on the warm sand and felt her face. Cold. Her lips were blue. Geez, Tobias, don't panic now, I told myself. What time was it? Would Jake and the others be on the beach yet?

(JAKE!) I called as strongly as I could. Since my human body is just a morph like any other, I could still thought-speak. The others wouldn't be able to respond, but if they could hear me…

(JAKE! If you're on the beach, if you can hear me, head for the cliffs!)

(We can hear you, Tobias. We are approaching.) Ax responded. He'd be the only one able to thought-speak since he was probably in human morph. He sounded faint, though. Too far off.

I leaned my cheek down next to Rachel's mouth, trying to feel for breathing. Her chest wasn't rising. No breathing. She must have taken in more water during the long swim. Her pulse was weak too.

Gingerly, I tilted her head back. "You'll be OK," I said out loud. I don't know if it was supposed to be for her or me. Looking into her still beautiful face, I bent down and sealed my lips over hers. Two breaths. Her chest rose and fell as the air went in. Waited a few seconds. Nothing. Two more breaths.

"Come on, Rachel," I pleaded. Two more breaths. She still wasn't breathing on her own. I could hear people approaching. As I leaned down again, I heard

"Aw damn Tobias! Get a ROOM!"

Marco.

I ignored him. Two more breaths.

"Rachel's hurt!" I panted to my friends as I sat up again. That shut Marco up. Cassie rushed over to her friend's side as I bent down for more rescue breathing.

"What happened?" Jake started to say. Suddenly Rachel coughed harshly. I fell back, relieved. She hacked up some seawater and began breathing on her own.

I lay on my back, half-crying, half-laughing as the exhaustion caught up with me in a rush. The others bombarded me with questions, but it was a full five minutes before I could start to answer. I quickly outlined the morning for them.

Jake fumed at our carelessness. Marco wanted to know for certain no one had seen us as humans. Ax wanted to know more about the electronic thing the Hork-Bajir was looking for.

"Um guys?" Cassie called from Rachel's side a few yards away. Her tone of urgent concern cut through the general pandemonium. "Rachel's still not awake. How long has she been half-morphed?"

Everyone turned to look at me.

"Oh no," I whispered. I had no idea.


	3. Chapter 3

**Jake**

"Ok. Ax, you and Marco get Erek and any Chee who have had medical training. If you can't find them, get Cassie's mom or dad. No. Wait. Cassie, is there anything in the barn that can get her conscious?" I barked quickly.

"Smelling salts? Or no, syringe of adrenaline. In the emergency pack in the surgery room. Second door past the tack closet," she answered.

"Right. One of you go for the Chee, the other get to the barn. Go!"

A Northern harrier and osprey left the cove at top speed. I moved back toward my cousin. Tobias was staring at her impassive face intently. I wondered if he was thought-speaking privately to her. Cassie looked really shaky. I could see her fighting back tears, so I crouched down in the sand and awkwardly put an arm around her shoulders. "She'll be OK Cass," I said. Why had I told her that? I didn't know if she'd be alright. I would've said anything to get that look off of Cassie's face. The minutes ticked by. I got up and started pacing. Cassie reached over and squeezed Tobias' shoulder.

Suddenly Rachel coughed again. I ran over.

"Rachel!" I yelled almost in unison with Cassie and Tobias. Her eyes fluttered as she moved her head a little. Now we were all yelling.

"You have to demorph!"

"Rachel! Wake up! Demorph!"

Her eyelids abruptly snapped open. She sat up quickly in a panic. Her huge bird wings spread out behind her in a twelve-foot gold and white rush of feathers. Tobias grabbed her shoulders.

"You have to demorph now Rachel!"

She didn't say anything. Just nodded. Cassie sidled over and gave me a little side-hug. The three of us watched her intensely. She had her eyes squeezed shut in concentration.

Nothing happened.

Rachel slowly opened her steely blue eyes. A look of horror in them reflected back at us.

I think Tobias caught on first. He walked over and kissed her before she could say a word.

Rachel was stuck. Stuck in half morph


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: I changed the name because I noticed a lot of these stories are called "The Mistake." I suck at thinking of titles.

**Rachel**

I stood there, unable to move except to push Tobias away from me. My lungs ached, my head spun, and I was still trying to will myself to demorph. This wasn't happening. It was just another nightmare in a long series of nightmares. I stumbled backward a few steps, but my center of gravity was different now. I sat down hard on the sand and stared up at my friends. As I focused on each of their faces, the reality of my situation flooded my consciousness like molten lava.

Jake, barely able to conceal his horror. Cassie, holding back sympathetic tears. And Tobias. His eyes were fierce, his face as emotionless as always.

He reached down to give me a hand up. I tried to reach for him, but I couldn't raise my arm above shoulder level. My arms just didn't move that way. Hoping no one perceived the flash of horror that rocketed through me, I pretended I didn't want a hand and scrambled up myself.

I tried to compose myself quickly. I am Rachel. I do not show weakness. No matter what.

"Why…um, what happened?" Might as well start with the big question. While Tobias recounted the last two hours I surreptitiously tried some range-of-movement exercises.

I tried shrugging. Jake and Cassie startled when I suddenly extended my ridiculously huge eagle wings.

"…and now you're…stuck," Tobias finished, staring into my eyes again. I could almost hear him thinking: _like me. _No Tobias, not like you. Far, far worse. Trapped between species! I was a freak. A real freak. No way could I fight Yeerks like this. I couldn't even go to school. Or home. I was useless except as a circus attraction. Worse than useless to the Animorphs. A liability. This couldn't be happening. Not to me. I was invincible! Deep in my heart, I'd always believed that.

"Rachel, how do you feel?" Cassie asked hesitantly.

"Just fine," I snapped nastily. "Hunky-dory." A surge of panicky terror rushed through my bloodstream. I fought to control my emotions. I lost.

"Cassie! I…what am I now? I can't… I'll never be able to—what am I going to do!" I could hear my own shrieking voice. My best friend rushed over and tried to hug me. She couldn't. Couldn't get her arms around my wings. She settled for squeezing my arm and making soothing noises. I felt like I could see it all happening, like some kind of out-of-body experience. _Shut up, _I thought to myself, _you're hysterical. Just shut up! _A thought-speak voice cut through my yelling. The brief distraction let me get a grip.

(Prince Jake, we have returned. Erek should be entering the rock formation in 12 of your seconds.) Ax of course.

(Hey Rachel! Glad to see you're alive. Love the Victoria's Secret look there. Demorph already; you look like a freak,) called Marco from somewhere in the distance.

Jake and Cassie winced. Good old tactful Marco. I almost cracked a smile for a second and regretted I couldn't send him a crushing comeback in thought-speak. Something along the lines of "at least I have an excuse!" Original, I know, but gimme a break. I was having a stressful morning.

Erek climbed over the giant boulders into the cove way faster and more dexterously than any human being should be able to move. But of course Erek wasn't human. He jumped down and dropped his hologram. Ax and Marco glided to a landing next to the bipedal steel-and-ivory dog Erek resembled in his natural state. They quickly demorphed. I gathered from the lack of further comments from Marco that Tobias had told him my deal in private thought-speak.

We all stared at each other in awkward silence for a few seconds. Or I should say everyone stared at me. Marco was the first to break the silence.

"Jesus, Xena. You really screwed up this time," he snarled belligerently. Well I least I didn't have to worry about getting pity.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: I know these past two chapters have been big on angsty talk and low on action. I'll get back into writing soon (I have a big paper due for school).

**Marco**

Yeah, I knew she'd almost died and all, but it had to be said.

"You think I _like _this?" she snapped.

"I don't give a good God damn what you like! This isn't about you!" I could feel a helluva rant coming on, and I didn't even try to stop it. "Your stupid little stunt this morning killed 1/6th of the only pitiful chance this planet had against total annihilation! You can't fight like that. One look at you and any Yeerk would figure out what happened, what you—no, what ALL OF US really are! You can't morph anymore. That's everyone's problem. Even Birdboy here was more effective than you're going to be from now on!" I paused for a breath. I fully expected a hardy "Shut up" from Jake and a slap from Rachel, but everyone was sort of frozen. It might have been my imagination, but I thought I saw Jake nodding almost imperceptibly.

Rachel turned on her heel and strode toward the gap in the rocks. I marched after her. Reached out to grab her shoulders but got a fistful of feathers. She yelped a little and spun around, no doubt to hit me. I seized her arms before she could raise them.

"Rachel, how many times have you saved my life?"

"One too many, apparently," she growled.

"Yeah, well now you can't," I said, walking backwards towards the others, "I'm as good as dead now. We all are."

As if to punctuate that dramatic statement, the clouds ripped open and let lose a downpour.

She took off running down the deserted beach. Her usually graceful gait looked funny and unwieldy because of the wings. Cassie called after her. Tobias, a hawk once more, took off to follow her. Swearing under my breath, I stomped back into the cove.

Jake cleared his throat. The unspoken equivalent of "ANYway…" Times like these I was glad I didn't have to be level-headed and tactful like Jake.

"We need to figure out how to handle this," he said to me, Cassie, Erek, and Ax. "Ax, is there any way she can regain her morphing power?"

(No Prince Jake,) he responded.

"No Andalite scientist ever solved this problem?"

(Restoring nothlits to their previous states was never a very pressing research concern among scientists on my homeworld. The morphing technology is not in widespread use except by espionage agents and morph artists, and of course, my people can track time without mechanical aids. Things may have changed now that the war is escalating, though.)

"Anyone have any suggestions?" Jake sighed.

"Ellimist? Maybe he…it could work some deal with Rachel, like he did for Tobias," said Cassie.

"Well anytime he wants to pop into our realm of existence and help would be fine with me," I griped.

"I may have a temporary fix," Erek piped up. "The other Chee and I may be able to build a portable holo-projector for her. She would be able to appear in human society without attracting attention."

"Great. Thanks Erek. That'll buy us some time. But the truth is, this team needs everyone healthy and morph-capable," said Jake.

I knew what he was really saying. Without Rachel, we didn't stand a chance. If we couldn't cure her, all was lost.


	6. Chapter 6

**Rachel**

I stumbled and ran away from Marco and the others. Not because I couldn't handle what he was saying or because I was too angry or anything. I just needed some space. I mean c'mon, I'd just had a near-death experience. I needed to think.

I lurched down the deserted beach as fast as I could with the extra weight on my back, not knowing where I was going. It wasn't like I could go home ever again. Or to school. Or the gym. Or the mall. That one made me pause—no mall! It's not as if my life had remotely resembled normal since that fateful night in the abandoned construction site, but the mall had always been my refuge when I needed to feel like an average kid. I know it seems shallow and typical of a blonde girl like me, but the mall meant something to me. The reality of my situation only really hit just then. I stopped running and stood at the water's edge. Looked around, panting and soaked from the rain. A very familiar shape overhead meant I had been followed.

(The boardwalk's about 500 yards ahead if you want to get out of the rain,) Tobias said.

I nodded and walked wearily toward the touristy part of the beach. Wet sand caked on my bare  
feet as I climbed over some small dunes to get under the boardwalk. I sat down heavily and hugged my knees.

What now? How could I possibly get out of this state? Couldn't count on the Ellimist for anything. That was a lesson we'd all learned many times. I knew Ax had no magical Andalite technology solution or he would've helped Tobias a long time ago. Ax and Tobias. I supposed I'd have to go live in the woods now like them. But they could still morph. Still fight. If I had to live in isolation like that _and_ stay out of the war, I knew it would only be a matter of time before I snapped.

But what about Crayak? On the Pemalite ship he'd sent one of his minions to make a deal with me—unlimited power if I killed Jake. Killed my own cousin for no one's benefit but my own. I shook my head, ashamed of even letting the thought into my head.

But Crayak would get me out of this…

No, never. End of story.

Which brought me back to where I'd started. Sitting under the boardwalk with enormous eagle wings stuck to my shoulder blades and not a hope in the world. No, there was still one option left. I reached a decision mentally. Time to go back and face my friends.

I looked up and sighed. Tobias had morphed his human self and was sitting next to me. God knows how long he'd been there.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

"Nothing, just waiting for you."

I stood up and squared my shoulders. The shrugging motion made the wings open to their full span again.

"Dammit," I mumbled as I worked my back muscles to get them to fold down again.

"Rachel, you should go back and talk to Jake and the others. Marco didn't mean—"

"I know exactly what Marco 'didn't mean,'" I snapped a lot more meanly than I'd intended, "sorry…it's been a long day. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I already decided what to do." I started striding back toward the cliffs.

"What are you talking about? What do you mean 'decided'?" he trailed after me, demorphing as he walked.

I tried to laugh confidently, but it came out as more of a snort. "I mean, Tobias, these things have to go. I'm amputating."


	7. Chapter 7

**Cassie**

Erek extended his force field in a bubble over us to keep out the rain. He and Jake and Marco were talking about the hologram idea. I tried to concentrate, but I couldn't. I kept looking over my shoulder to see if Rachel was coming back. Finally I spied her bizarre silhouette trudging through the gloom on the rainy beach. As she approached, her posture grew more confident so by the time she reached the cove, she looked like herself again. Somehow the stress, sand, salt, and rain seemed like it hadn't affected her at all.

"Welcome back bird freaks," said Marco. Honestly, that guy has all the tact and understanding of a nuclear bomb.

"Hey Marco, you get stuck morphing a midget?" Rachel shot back. I saw Marco smirk and knew things were back to normal for now. She stepped under Erek's "umbrella" and gave me a confident grin. I smiled, relieved the real Rachel was back.

Jake started filling them in on Erek's plan. He and the rest of the Chee could modify one of their own hologram generators to hide her wings.

"Basically we can make it look like anything. Hairclip, watch, shoelace, whatever, but you have to have it on all the time. And we can't make a force field, so you can't let anyone touch your back or get too close," Erek explained.

"You can still go to school and home and all," I added. I tried to read how she was taking all this. She stood with her arms folded, a stony expression on her face.

"So I'll just hide for the rest of my life then? And sit out the rest of the war?" she said, "thanks and everything Erek, but I've got an easier idea. I'll just cut them off. Problem solved."

Typical Rachel solution—direct, violent, and horrible to imagine.

"Ok, aside from the fact that that's the dumbest idea I've ever heard, how's that going to be better than a hologram thingie? You still won't be able to morph," Marco pointed out.

"I won't have to sneak around either," she sniped. She and Marco started squabbling. I looked over at Jake, and he rolled his eyes, exasperated. I could almost read his thoughts: _Typical Rachel and Marco. _I wasn't so sure. Maybe they were arguing about this to avoid the real problem. I tried to shush them before they dragged the rest of us into their bickering.

"Look, maybe we don't have to decide this right now," I said, struggling to be heard above their noise. "It's like Jake said: we need you to be able to morph. Erek's plan is just temporary."

"Cassie's right," Jake backed me up, "in the meantime, we have other fish to fry. We need to know what that Hork-Bajir was doing and whether he got away. And we have to do this now while there's no one out here. Rachel, you go with Erek and get fitted for the hologram. Tobias, you lead me and Cassie out to where the Bugfighters crashed. We'll try to find out what was going on out there. Ax and Marco figure out what to do about Rachel's morphing power. See about contacting the Ellimist. Call the Andalite homeworld if you have to. I just need some options."

"You mean my ability to morph depends on _Marco_?" Rachel said, "I wouldn't trust him to hold a door open for me."

"Don't worry Rachel! Ax and I will save your bacon again!" Marco said in a faux-gallant superhero voice. Rachel shrugged. Her huge wings knocked Marco over as they unfurled. "Oops! Sorry, knight in shining armor. Better get to work saving poor little me," she said, snickering.

Everyone sprang into action. Rachel and Erek left for his house/Chee headquarters. Ax said something about the blue box, so I told him and Marco where to find it. Jake and I had to morph to fly out to sea.

(Nice job) I told him as soon as I could thoughtspeak. If it's impossible for seagulls to heave sighs, the one standing in the sand across from me came awful close.

(Thanks, Cass. But I have no idea what to do after this,) he replied.

(Hey, we're doing something now. Worry about the rest later.)


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**Ax**

As instructed by Prince Jake, Marco and I morphed birds of prey and hastened back to my scoop. My traditional Andalite dwelling was located in the forest that bordered Cassie's horse pasture. I understand most humans prefer an enclosed space, but we Andalites require open sky above us. Probably a result of our species' dissimilar evolutionary paths. I plan to author a study on it someday. For now, however, my time was required for other tasks. I did not want to express pessimism towards Prince Jake's plan in front of the others, but there was no known way to reverse a nothlit's condition. I did not have much faith in my and Marco's abilities to find a solution to Rachel's problem.

As soon as we were out of sight of Cassie's farmhouse, I landed in the field and returned to my Andalite shape. Although morphing Earth's large variety of creatures is often useful and sometimes exhilarating, I always prefer my true form. I ran the rest of the way and met Marco in my scoop. He had already demorphed and was pacing around the grassy floor. He noticed my computer and paused.

"What did you do to this Mac, Ax-man?"

(I modified it to make it more efficient,) I told him.

He grabbed a handful of wires and toyed with them. I've noticed some humans have a tendency to interfere with things before they fully understand them. Luckily Marco dropped the _flaan _wires almost immediately. "What do these do?" he asked.

(They improve transmission quality, but you should not touch them. They are not sufficiently insulated,) I said.

"You mean I could've been electrocuted just now?"

(No, of course not. This does not run on electricity.)

"Oh. Good," he sighed, apparently reassured.

(The fusion radiation poses a much larger health threat.)

He gave me a look I could not read. I am still imperfect at interpreting human facial expressions, but I believe he disapproved of my use of fusion to power electronic devices.

"Excuse me, I have to go see a doctor now," he said. I shrugged and turned off the computer.

"Radiation. Pfft. Fusion! Tcha," Marco continued muttering under his breath. "So that's how Andalites got to be bright blue. Probably mutated by your toys as kids." Eventually he stopped complaining and went back to pacing. Apparently human brains are more effective if the body is in motion. After awhile, he stopped and looked up at me.

"There's no way to fix this Rachel situation, is there?" he asked me point-blank.

I snapped out of my own largely hopeless thoughts. (On my homeworld, we have a saying: "there is always a solution, even if we are blind to it.")

"Great. That cliché fills me with hope," he said. "Well, Jake wanted options, so let's give him some. Option 1: Rachel cuts off her wings and bleeds to death. Option 2: We mess around with the space-time continuum enough to attract the Ellimist's attention—God knows how—and somehow get him to fix this. Option 3: I go home and finish watching the Real World marathon."

I believe he was being facetious, but I could not be sure.

(We should think of a fourth option,) I said, just to make my intentions clear. He sighed and clapped me on the shoulder.

"I know, Ax-Man. Unfortunately, I think so too." He began pacing around the scoop again. I was trying to determine the ease of creating a _Sario Rip_in order to warn Rachel of the danger, but I was finding it difficult to focus. After another few moments Marco stopped and looked up.

"Ax, why exactly does it happen? Why only two hours?" he asked me. I considered the question. A full explanation would probably be beyond a human's grasp of physics. Also, I was not entirely sure of the answer.

(I am not positive,) I admitted. (I believe it has to do with the energy in the bonds in your DNA,) I said truthfully.

"Well that's not enough information. I thought maybe if we knew exactly what the problem was, we'd have some idea of how to fix it," he said. He started pacing again.

I kicked at the grass. My human friends often ask me questions about the morphing technology, spacecraft, and alien species. Sometimes I cannot recall the required information in sufficient detail. I was not the most assiduous student back in school. However, Marco's reasoning was correct: we needed to understand the problem more fully. I had an idea about how to rectify that at least.

(We can contact someone who does know,) I said. Within minutes we were morphing birds of prey and heading for the observatory. I had used the enormous radio telescope housed there once to contact my parents on my homeworld. It had not ended well, but it was effective for a brief time. My plan was to contact my old physics professor. He was a brilliant Zero-Space scholar. I remembered nearly falling asleep during his complicated Z-Space lectures many times.

Shortly after Marco and I landed on the observatory floor, I had modified the computer programs to allow communication with my world. Unfortunately, the only channel I knew was a military one. I had gotten into trouble for using it before. There was no guarantee the officer who answered would not hang up on me instantly. As far as the Andalite military knew, I was the one who had broken our laws by giving the humans the morphing technology. Most of the Andalite civilian population probably thought I was a traitor by now. I did not want to consider what the average military officer thought of me. I posed the dilemma to Marco. He gave it some consideration.

"Can you make it so whoever answers can't see us?" he asked.

(I could turn off the monitor, yes.)

"So I'll morph and talk to him in thought-speak. He won't recognize my 'voice,' right?"

(How are you going to explain why you are on a military frequency?)

"Don't worry about it, Ax-Man. Do you know how many times I've duped authority figures over the phone?"

I did not, but I was interested to see how he would execute his idea. I blanked the monitor and dialed up my homeworld. Marco morphed to gorilla and waited. Soon an angry voice filtered through the system.

(This is a restricted communications channel. I am Sergeant Ellifar-Barahorn-Gooril. Identify yourself immediately.)

I looked at Marco anxiously. It was his cue.

(Uh, hello? Is anybody there? I have to do my homework,) he said in a childish voice. Privately to me he said, (You have homework on your planet, right?)

I nodded. It was an Earth gesture I had picked up indicating the affirmative.

(Son, you need to stop playing with the computer and run along home,) the sergeant said with a softened voice. (This is not a toy.)

I was a little stunned. I could not believe this was working. Of course, we Andalites are not a naturally deceiving species. The sergeant had no reason to disbelieve Marco.

(Wait! Can you let me talk to…) he paused and looked at me, gesturing with his gorilla hands. (Who?) he asked me urgently.

(Um, Irius-Nictotan-Rafahell,) I supplied.

(Iris-Nicotene-Raphael,) he said to military communications. I felt my hearts sink. Surely the communications sergeant would detect out bluff after that mistake.

(I know of no one by that name.)

(I have to write a report on morphing. He's a physics professor,) Marco said, still affecting the child voice.

(Do you mean Irius-Nictotan-Rafahell?) asked Ellifar kindly. Apparently the gruff soldier had a soft spot for children.

There was a pause as if the sergeant was debating inwardly.

(I will transfer you. But next time, use the academic channels. Do this again and you will be reprimanded.)

(Thank you sir!)

Within seconds Marco, posing successfully as an Andalite child, was talking to the one of the world's leading experts on Zero-Space. I would not have believed it if I had not seen it with my own four eyes. With some wheedling, Marco finally got the busy professor to give him an explanation.

(You could look this up in any textbook,) he admonished, (Anyway, as you know, when you morph, your excess mass is pushed into Zero Space, a type of non-space that fluctuates in all dimensions. Temporally, spatially…it is always changing in every way. It is like a road that is constantly changing its destination. It takes a great deal of energy to navigate a ship in Z-Space, but if you can tunnel through it with a stabilizing field around the ship, you can get to physical locations in normal space much faster than by standard means. Our Domeships' engines generate the stabilization energy when we travel through it. Well with morphing, the blue cube confers similar energy to the nuclear bonds in your DNA that allow your excess mass to stay intact while it sits in Zero Space. However, each morph contains only enough energy for the mass to stay in one place for two hours. Now run along and play, little one. I have work to do,) he finished. He had delivered the whole lesson distractedly, as if the complex physics concepts were mere afterthoughts.

I erased the programming modifications I'd installed and shut down the computer.

"So after two hours, the blue cube DNA energy goes away, and your mass is scattered to the four winds of Z-Space, and you can't get it back," he stated. Humans, especially Marco, constantly astonish me with their ability to oversimplify complex relationships.

(More or less)

"So could we go into Z-Space and get Rachel's mass back?"

(Theoretically, but we would need a Z-Space capable ship and some way to pinpoint Rachel's mass in an infinite non-universe. And we would have to go now. Or preferably several hours ago. The longer we wait, the more fragmented and scattered it will become. It is virtually impossible to be sure we have located every DNA strand of Rachel's mass and bestow each bond with enough energy for her to return to her normal shape.)

"So you're saying it's virtually impossible. Those were your exact words."

(Yes.)

"Then saddle up Ax, because 'Virtually Impossible' is our middle name!" he said with misplaced excitement.

(My middle name is Esgarrouth,) I pointed out (and yours is—)

"It's a figure of speech Ax," he interrupted me.

(Oh. One of those.)

"C'mon. Let's go give Jake the good news," he said.


End file.
